Anti-splash device for urinals

ABSTRACT

An anti-splash device for urinals, including a porous member adapted to be detachably attached to an inner surface of a urinal is disclosed. The porous member holds a composition including an odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance. A visual indication of the need of replacement is given by the composition when the odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance is getting used-up.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This application is a §371 National Stage Application of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/SE2013/050694 filed Jun. 14, 2013,which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure refers to an anti-splash device for urinals, saidanti-splash device including a porous member adapted to be detachablyattached to an inner surface of a urinary bowl and is intended to reducesplashing of urine. The porous member holds a composition including anodour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance to freshen and sanitizethe urinary bowl.

BACKGROUND

An often occurring problem in men's rooms is bad smell originatingprimarily in urinals. The odour of urine varies depending onconcentration and variety of chemicals excreted by kidneys, which inturn depends on food intake and possible diseases. The odour is alsoinfluenced by microbial and enzymatic activities. The bad smell may, forinstance, be generated by bacterial activity breaking down urea toammonia. Also, the bad smell is caused by splashing of urine, occurringwhen a stream of urine hits the inner surface of the urinal. Due to theimpact force, urine is dispersed into fine drops that travel arelatively long distance from the urinal, landing on the walls and thefloor of the bathroom, as well as on the individual urinating. Thesedrops are thus not removed upon flushing, but remain on the surfaces inproximity of the urinal, generating bad smell.

Studies show that men try to hit a target, if there is one, whenurinating. It is known to provide such a target, and at the same timeminimize splash of urine during urination in a urinal by arrangingdifferent kinds of anti-splash devices at the inner surface of theurinary bowl. Such devices are known in the art and include a porousstructure adapted to disperse a stream of liquid incident on thestructure. It is also known to arrange an odour inhibiting and/or odourmasking substance in the anti-splash device.

US 2005/0144711 discloses an anti-splash guard and deodorant pouchadapted for a lavatory device. The anti-splash guard may include afibrous material. The deodorant pouch may include a deodorant materialsandwiched between layers of anti-splash material, such as the fibrousmaterial that is used in the anti-splash guard.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,119 discloses an anti-splash guard made of adecomposable plastic material containing an additive decomposing bymicroorganisms and sunlight characteristic. After the receptacle isused, the additive is naturally decomposed in a short time by activityof microorganisms and irradiation of sunlight, the plastic materialcollapses into a granular resin, and the receptacle loses its originalform, thus indicating the need for replacement.

US 2007/0186337 discloses a non-splash urinal strainer with a perforatedbase pad and a deodorant canister fixed to the base pad. Deodorantmaterial is contained within a space provided between the continuousoutside wall and the funnel shaped conduit.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,648 discloses a disposable, deodorant and splashproof urine dispersing device made of scented plastic material.

GB 2472377 discloses a liquid dispersion apparatus including a mat thathas a surface arranged to carry information such as printedadvertisements or health information, which may fade over time afterrepeated contact with urine to reveal another layer carrying differentinformation. The mat may carry an odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingcompound, a fragrance or a detergent and it has a surface patternarranged to disperse the urine as it hits the surface of the mat.

In order for an anti-splash device including an odour inhibiting and/orodour masking compound to maintain its deodorizing and fresheningfunction, the anti-splash device needs to be replaced on a regularbasis, since the odour inhibiting and/or odour masking compound isdeactivated with time or is washed away upon repeated contact withurine. It may be difficult to know when replacement is needed just bytrying to perceive the scent of the bathroom air, which may result inthe replacement carried out too early or too late.

SUMMARY

According to the present disclosure, an anti-splash device for urinalsis provided. The anti-splash device includes a porous member adapted tobe detachably attached to an inner surface of a urinal. In certainembodiments, the anti-splash device is positioned at a location where astream of urine is likely to hit the inner surface of the urinal, suchas at the lower portion of the inner side wall being furthest away fromthe user, or at the outlet. The porous member is arranged to hold acomposition including an odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance. By “odour inhibiting” is meant a substance that removes thecause of the odour and/or the odour. By “odour masking” is meant asubstance having a strong scent that prevails over the odour. Thecomposition provides a visual indication of when the odour inhibitingand/or odour masking substance is getting used-up. This effect may beachieved either by providing a composition capable of changing itscolour when the odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance isgetting used-up, or by providing a composition that is gradually washedaway by urine and/or water to expose an underlying surface of the porousmember, which may have a contrasting colour to the colour of saidcomposition in order to provide the desired visual indication.

When the composition provides a visual indication by means of a colourchange, any component of the composition may have the ability to changeits colour. Thus, the composition may include the odour inhibitingand/or odour masking substance that per se changes colour. It is alsopossible that the composition includes a colorant able to change colour.It is sufficient that one of the components of the composition maychange its colour, but it is also conceivable that several of thecomponents of the composition have the ability to change its colour.

At least one of the components of the composition of the presentdisclosure may have an acidic pH (<7) when the anti-splash device isnew. Upon repeated contact with urine and/or flushing water, andparticularly with ammonia contained in the urine, the pH will increase.The composition may be adapted to change its colour when the pH risesabove a pre-determined threshold. In certain embodiments, the colourchange is distinct from one colour to its complementary counterpart, forinstance from purple to green, from orange to blue, or from yellow toviolet. When the colour change is observed, the user or the maintenanceservice replaces the anti-splash device.

The acidic composition inhibits growth of bacteria, and thus reducesodours generated due to bacterial activity, in particular the release ofammonia from the breakdown of urea. Further, by the action of the acidiccomposition, the ammonia is conveniently neutralized by formation of anodourless ammonium salt.

Any component of the composition may also have an alkaline pH (>7). Uponrepeated contact with urine and/or flushing water, and particularly withacidic odorous substances contained in the urine, the pH will decrease.The composition may be adapted to change its colour when the pH dropsbelow a pre-determined threshold. In particular embodiments, the colourchange is distinct from one colour to its complementary counterpart, forinstance from green to purple, from blue to orange, or from violet toyellow. When the colour change is observed, the user or the maintenanceservice replaces the anti-splash device.

An alkaline composition can neutralize acidic odorous substances inurine, such as isovaleric acid and acetic acid. Also, the alkalinecomposition prevents growth of microorganisms, thus eliminating odoursoriginating from microbial activity.

As mentioned above, the visual indication may be achieved by thecomposition including the odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance being gradually decoloured or washed away by urine and/orflushing water to expose an underlying surface of the porous member. Inparticular embodiments, the colour of the composition is different fromthe colour of the porous member such that the user or the maintenanceservice easily notices the difference when the composition is gettingused-up. The colour of the composition and the colour of the porousmember may be complementary to each other, such as purple/green,orange/blue, yellow/violet.

The odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance per se may have acolour different from the colour of said porous member. Further, thecomposition may include a colorant that is washed away by urine and/orwater at the same rate as the odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance. In this case, the dissipation rate for the odour inhibitingand/or odour masking substance and the colorant may be controlled by abinder. It is, of course, highly important that the colorant and theodour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance are washed away at thesame rate in order to avoid deceptive indications by the colorant,leading to the replacement of the anti-splash device being carried outtoo early or too late.

The odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance may be chosen fromthe following group of substances: antimicrobial substances (e.g.chlorhexidine, quaternary ammonium compounds, chelating agents,parabens, chitosan, hydrogen peroxide, botanical additives, acids, suchas adipic acid, ascorbic acid, benzoic acid, boric acid, citric acid orlactic acid; metal salts), odour adsorbent substances (e.g. activatedcarbon, zeolites, clays, cyclodextrin, polysaccharides, silica), scents(masking or counteracting scents such as vanilla, citrus, mint,lavender), enzyme inhibiting substances, pH neutralizing substances(acids, bases), surfactants.

The composition may be a system including a coloured surfactant which isgradually decoloured or washed away by urine and/or water. Thesurfactant helps to prevent splashing by reducing the surface tension ofdrops. Further, the odour inhibiting function of the surfactant isachieved by a cleaning action, and also, in cases when a cationic or ananionic surfactant is used, antibacterial action. Even in this case, thedeodorizing and freshening function of the anti-splash device may beimproved by addition of an odour-masking substance mentioned above.Alternatively, the composition may include a surfactant and a colorant,wherein both the surfactant and the colorant are washed away at the samerate.

The composition may include a salt which is gradually dissolved andwashed away by urine and/or water. The salt inhibits growth of bacteria,and has thus an odour inhibiting effect. The salt suitable for use inthe present invention should preferably have a relatively low solubilityin water in order to provide a certain durability of the odourinhibiting function of the anti-splash device. The salt may for instancebe a metal salt such as sodium chloride, a silver salt or a copper salt.The salt may also be a mineral salt, or an ammonium salt. The salt maybe blended with other materials in order to achieve the desiredsolubility. When the salt is gradually dissolved and washed away byurine, the colour of the porous member of the anti-splash devicematerial would come through, indicating that the device should bechanged. Alternatively, the composition may a salt and a colorant,wherein both the salt and the colorant are washed away at the same rate.

The composition held by the anti-splash device can be positioned at thecentral part of the anti-splash device and has a strong colour in orderto attract the user's attention. The user would thus be guided to directthe stream of urine towards the anti-splash device. The composition mayof course be positioned across the entire surface of the anti-splashdevice. Further, the composition may form an aesthetically pleasing,entertaining or informative pattern.

The anti-splash device may be manufactured from various kinds ofmaterial, such as plastic, steel, synthetic or natural fibres, foams andthe like. The anti-splash device may be a porous structure in itsentirety, or comprise a porous member. The porous member is adapted toabsorb the force of bodily waste fluid being projected into the interiorregion of the urinal, and then release the fluid in a controlled manner.The porous member may be chosen from cellular structures, fibrousstructures or nets.

The geometrical shape of the anti-splash device may vary. Thus, theanti-splash device may be circular, rectangular, oval, triangular,diamond, pentagonal, hexagonal, and the like.

The size of the anti-splash device may be adapted to the size of theurinal. Thus, the length of the anti-splash device may be between 5-15cm, or between 8-12 cm. Further, the width of the anti-splash device maybe between 5-15 cm, or between 8-12 cm. Moreover, the thickness of theanti-splash device may be between 0.5-3 cm, or between 1-2 cm.

In embodiments where the anti-splash device includes fibrous strands,the strands are arranged, positioned, or joined together so as to definea porous mesh or lattice configuration. In one embodiment, the fibrousstrands may include translucent or opaque materials formed of asemi-rigid or flexible material, such as polyethylene (PE),polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl-chloride (PVC), polyethylene-terephthalate(PET), various types of synthetic polyester meshes, or the like. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the fibrousstrands may include various other generally known materials, includinganti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral materials, without departingfrom the scope of the present teachings. Another possibility to form theanti-splash device is using steel strands, thus forming steel wool.

The cellular structure of the porous member may be manufactured from arigid or a resilient material and includes a plurality of cells. Thecells may be circular, rectangular, square, triangular, pentagonal,hexagonal or the like. In particular embodiments, the shape is ahoneycomb cellular structure, formed when each cell is hexagonal. Therigid material may be steel or plastic, the resilient material may befoam.

The porous member of the anti-splash device may be a woven or nonwovennet, formed from textile or steel fibres.

The anti-splash device is attached to the inner surface of the urinal inan detachable manner in order to enable replacing of the anti-splashdevice when the composition has provided a visual indication of gettingused-up. The anti-splash device may be detachably attached by snappingit on a permanently glued bracket. Other attaching means are alsoconceivable, for instance hooking the anti-splash device on a patch of apermanently fastened loop material, providing the anti-splash devicewith suction cups attachable to the inner surface of the urinal, or thelike.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a urinal with an anti-splash device;

FIG. 2 shows a stream of urine hitting the anti-splash device;

FIG. 3 shows the anti-splash device with the composition arranged at thecentral portion of the anti-splash device;

FIG. 4 shows the anti-splash device wherein the composition is used-up,clearly indicating the need to replace the anti-splash device;

FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate embodiments of porous members suitable in theanti-splash device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an anti-splash device 1 arranged at the inner surface 3 ofa urinal 2. The urinal 2 is of a conventional kind with a manual orautomatic flushing system (not shown). The anti-splash device 1 isdetachably attached to the inner surface 3 of the urinal 2, at alocation where the stream of urine is most likely to hit the wall of theurinal. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the anti-splash device ispositioned at the lower portion of the inner side wall being furthestaway from the user.

The splash-preventing function of the anti-splash device is illustratedin FIG. 2. The anti-splash device depicted in FIG. 2 has a honeycombstructure as described earlier. When the stream of urine 4 strikes theanti-splash device 1, the impact force of the urine is absorbed, thusdecreasing the travelling velocity of the urine, causing it to fall downtowards the outlet of the urinal, rather than be projected in adirection opposite to the direction of the impact. Further, theanti-splash device is capable of absorbing and retaining a certainamount of liquid, before the liquid is released in a controlled mannerdue to the force of gravity, and enters the outlet of the urinal. Asmentioned above, the anti-splash device prevents the urine from beingdispersed by action of the impact force when the urine hits the innersurface of the urinal, thus causing the drops of urine to leave theurinal bowl, and to become deposited on the surrounding surfaces,including the individual urinating.

The anti-splash device holds a composition including an odour inhibitingand/or odour masking substance, such that the composition provides avisual indication of when it is getting used-up. As mentioned above, thevisual indication may be provided due to the colour change of thecomposition, or due to the composition being gradually removed from theanti-splash device upon repeated contact with urine and/or water.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an embodiment wherein the composition isgradually removed upon repeated contact with the urine and/or water.Thus, in FIG. 3 the anti-splash device 1 includes a porous cellularstructure 6 with rhomb-shaped cells. In the central portion 7 of theanti-splash device a composition 5 is arranged. The colour of thecomposition 5 differs from the colour of the porous cellular structure6. This difference in colour should be perceptible by an unaided humaneye. In particular embodiments, the colour of the porous cellularstructure 6 is complementary to the colour of the composition.

As the anti-splash device is being used, the composition 5 is graduallyremoved from the porous cellular structure 6 of the anti-splash device 1(FIG. 4). When the colour of the porous cellular structure 6 in thecentral portion of the anti-splash device is clearly visible, anindication is given to the user or the maintenance service that theanti-splash device needs to be replaced.

As mentioned above, the porous member may be a net structure or afibrous structure, depicted in FIGS. 5a and 5b , respectively.Experiments have shown that the best anti-splashing properties areachieved when the porous member is a honeycomb structure, a thick highloft material, steel wool or steel net.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tovarious embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognise thatchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.It is intended that the detailed description be regarded as illustrativeand that the appended claims including all the equivalents are intendedto define the scope of the invention.

1. An anti-splash device (1) for urinals, said anti-splash devicecomprising a porous member adapted to be detachably attached to an innersurface (3) of a urinal (2), wherein said porous member holds acomposition comprising an odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance, characterized in that said composition provides a visualindication of when said odour inhibiting and/or odour masking substanceis getting used-up.
 2. The anti-splash device according to claim 1,characterized in that said visual indication is provided by a change ofcolour of said composition.
 3. The anti-splash device according to claim2, characterized in that it is said odour inhibiting and/or odourmasking substance per se that changes colour.
 4. The anti-splash deviceaccording to claim 2, characterized in that said change of colour isprovided by a colorant comprised in said composition.
 5. The anti-splashdevice as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said odourinhibiting and/or odour masking substance and/or colorant has an acidicpH and changes colour when its pH rises above a pre-determinedthreshold.
 6. The anti-splash device as claimed in claim 3 or 4,characterized in that said odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance and/or colorant has an alkaline pH and changes colour when itspH drops below a pre-determined threshold.
 7. The anti-splash deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that said visual indication isprovided by said composition comprising said odour inhibiting and/orodour masking substance being gradually decoloured or washed away byurine and/or water to expose an underlying surface of said porousmember.
 8. The anti-splash device according to claim 7, characterized inthat said composition has a colour different from the colour of saidporous member.
 9. The anti-splash device according to claim 8,characterized in that it is said odour inhibiting and/or odour maskingsubstance per se that has a colour different from the colour of saidporous member.
 10. The anti-splash device according to claim 7 or 8,characterized in that said composition comprises a colorant that iswashed away by urine and/or water at the same rate as the odourinhibiting and/or odour masking substance.
 11. The anti-splash deviceaccording to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that saidodour inhibiting and/or odour masking substance is chosen from thefollowing group of substances: antimicrobial substances, odour adsorbentsubstances, scents, enzyme inhibiting substances, pH neutralizingsubstances, surfactants.
 12. The splash device as claimed in any of thepreceding claims, characterized in that said porous member is chosenfrom the following group of structures: cellular structures, fibrousstructures, nets.
 13. The anti-splash device as claimed in claim 12,characterized in that said cellular structure is a honeycomb structure.